So when I read about a woman, no more than 5'1", ~110 lbs., physically disabling a 6'+, 200+ lbs. violent criminal who is in good shape and well versed in physical violence by:

There are quite a few times throughout the series when she literally lays out Dresden (who is 6'6 or so) witha punch to the jaw, stomach, or some wristlocky Aikidoish move.twisting his pinkie, I have a hard time staying in the mental state of disbelief.

So yes, I have a problem with how boxing is displayed IN A WORK OF FICTION. Any more moronic character assumptions you'd care to throw my way?

To be fair, the incidents where she beats up Dresden with her fists I can count on one hand compared to the amount of incidents where she throws around trained 200+ lb thugs with wristlocks (which are countless).

I already realize it's a work of fiction. I understand LOTR never happened. Dresden Files and LOTR are entertaining novels, detailing events that never occurred, much like the "history" of __ng __un. You, once again, do not understand the point I am making. I have never done magic. I have never fought a vampire. I don't commune with the spirits. So I can willingly suspend my disbelief due to the fantastic nature of those events.

However, something I am very familiar with is the nature and reality of physical violence and martial ability. So when I read about a woman, no more than 5'1", ~110 lbs., physically disabling a 6'+, 200+ lbs. violent criminal who is in good shape and well versed in physical violence by twisting his pinkie, I have a hard time staying in the mental state of disbelief.

So yes, I have a problem with how aikido is displayed IN A WORK OF FICTION. Any more moronic character assumptions you'd care to throw my way?

Poi

I totally agree. In a way this thread is silly, but lots of fantasy/sci fi depend on realistic details to enable suspension of belief for the sake of the story being told. When an author brings their bullshido mindset into their work it is terribly distracting. Oh well...not much we can do. And by the way, I have ran into this with arts other than aikido.

I have no idea whether or not Butcher is some kind of weenie who really believes in the Aikido Fairy or whatever, but I'd need more evidence than just the existence of an aikido-using character. Mainly because it is painfully obvious that Butcher does NO research and barely keeps Dresden's powers consistent between scenes.

For example, the series takes place in Chicago. Butcher never visited Chicago and hell, never even Googled up various locations. He thinks Wrigley Field has a fucking giant underground parking lot. That there is such a neighborhood as "midtown" in Chicago, and that a "JFK Expressway" connects this mythical neighborhood to Rosemont.

Indeed, many writers of contemporary fantasy do go out of their way to research geography (buying maps, getting photo references, taking trips), martial arts, firearms, music, chess, and all sorts of others things that characters may encounter or know about somehow. Butcher just doesn't, but I'm sure he's crying all the way to the bank. No reason to suggest that he is psychologically incapable of knowing The Way of Aliveness; he likely just said, "Hmm, how about aikido?" and let it at that. If the character keeps disabling bad guys and vampires and whatnot with the same tricks, it's because Butcher isn't getting paid to come up with new and awesome plot twists all the time. He's the literary equivalent of a guy working on an assembly line frosting Pop-Tarts. (He just gets paid a lot more.)